I played soccer from the age of 8-17. There were a bazillion American youth playing soccer when I was a youth b/t 1978-1987 and there still are.
I don't think a professional soccer league will ever be as popular in the US as the NBA, NFL, and MLB. There is to much competition. No commercial timeouts during a soccer game?:shock:

For whatever reason American sports fans are obsessed with a lot of meaningless or meaningful statistics. The NBA didn't start keeping stats for block shots and steals until the 1970's. "Back in the day", the NBA only gave credit for an assist if the player who recieved a pass didn't put the ball on the floor before he scored a shot. What the hell is so impressive about a double-double. 10 rebounds and 10 points from someone playing the center position. It must be cultural.

OMG the Europeans from VF must be in shock to hear me criticised my own culture.

I noticed the U.S. networks are getting creative with their advertising during soccer games. They either scroll the ad along the bottom or top of the screen or they minimize the screen with the play and show a commercial.

I don't think its really gonna do all that much good. If he played for free...at best soccer would be a modestly profitable sport in the US but his paycheck will make it hard to break even. I think the first half of the season will go well then after that they'll realize they made the best team selection ever and one of the worste financial mistakes in the history of sport(remember Hidaeki Irabu)

You've gotta remember...soccer tickets are very cheap in the states...chances are they may even be subsidized. At best they'll make a small profit from him being around...also the people buying tickets are probably all people who watch international soccer on TV instead of the MLS...not the new plethora of fans they are hoping for

The MLS is trying to promote soccer (sorry... football) in North America.
Ticket prices are being made "family affordable" to get as many people in the stadium as possible and hopefully get them hooked.

JW wrote:Beckham says that Tom Cruise played a big part in his decision to join the LA Galaxy.

Beckahm stated that Tom Cruise is "a very wise man"

OMG....NOOOO!!!!

The MLS should bring in some "declining" foreign stars like Ronaldo and others as well. The NASL did this and brought some great soccer to the USA in the late 70's including George Best to the San Jose Earthquakes. But yeah, Beckham and family fit into the Hollywood scene just fine.

I had season tickets to the Earthquakes until they moved to Houston. Stupid MLS. They moved our awesome team. There's now like 5 teams in Texas or something (this *may* be an exaggeration).

Hey, check this out. One of the best goals I've ever seen (it's George Best, the famous English player), and it came as an Earthquake.

The funny thing about this goal is Best is yapping at the ref because he was taken down a few minutes before and they didn't card the guy from the other team. You can see Best in the ref's face dribbling the ball at the beginning of the clip. Then he scores one of his best goals and goes and yaps at the ref more. IN YOUR FACE, REF! Classic!